Period Ranelagh home at €2.25m offers scope for development

Comprising just eight houses, Warwick Terrace is very much part of old Ranelagh, a time before the village was the hip mecca of eateries, posh boutiques and cool coffee shops . A time when, whisper it, many of the grander houses were laid out in flats.

Some readers may even have attended parties at number 8, fadó fadó, for the house was subdivided into flats when purchased by the current family back in the 1950s.

It has been in the same family since then, a rarity in itself. The current owner, who has been in residence since the 1970s, returned the house to single use.

The two-storey over-garden house is handsome, with soaring ceiling heights and light-filled with windows on three sides, thanks to its end terrace status. BER exempt, it will likely need some insulation upgrades but it is in fine condition, if a little tired. The next owner will probably want to look at gently upgrading it to bring it up to the level of comfort that buyers in its €2.25 million asking-price bracket have come to expect. DNG is handling the sale.

If you happen to be lucky enough to have that level of funding, or are a developer of boutique schemes, this home is worth a look. The layout and the size of its plot, at 0.2 acres, is relatively rare to find, especially within a minute’s walk of Ranelagh’s main drag.

As it is it is a home with very fine bones, set on a plot that is 17.5m wide with double garages, 36sq m to the side where, subject to the depth of your pockets, you could build a second house. This option might appeal to multigeneration buyers looking to have parents nearby but not on top of them. The width of the garages extends to more than 6m and doesn’t take into consideration the side access.

Another bonus is the fact that the main reception rooms are at hall level. A double-window living room to the front leads through to a sitting room to the rear via interconnecting doors, although one of these doesn’t sit flush with the wall. The rooms have charming French stoves set into their marble fireplaces, ceiling heights of more than 4m and original ceiling roses. The rooms are of a really liveable size rather than just special occasion use.

The house extends to 295sq m 3, 175sq ft over thee floors. There is a small kitchen at hall level with a small breakfast room off it, and a sun room to its rear where there are steps leading down into the garden.

It’s likely that the next homeowner might move the kitchen down to garden level where there is more scope to create a more open plan aesthetic. Alternatively, with a little reconfiguration, the rooms at garden level could become a self-contained two-bedroom flat with a separate entrance to the front. The rooms are bright and ceiling heights here are good at 2.7m.

There are three bedrooms, all doubles, on the first floor, two very good square rooms and a third longer room, overlooking the front with a fourth bedroom on the return and a shower room at the top of the house.

Walled and super private, the garden is delightfully mature and, subject to planning permission, there may be the possibility to turn the pedestrian rear access to vehicular as some of the neighbours have done.

The location is impressive for you are less than a minute’s walk from Ranelagh’s main drag and a short walk to the shops of Leeson Street Upper and the canal. Raghmines is also a short walk away.

Number 4 Warwick Terrace is also for sale. Mid-terrace, the four-bedroom, two-bathroom property of 205sq m is seeking €1.7million through agents SherryFitzGerald.

Pricewise, the only comparable property in the same asking bracket on the market is number 57 Dartmouth Square. The four-bedroom house of 205sq m is seeking €2.15 million through agent DVW Smyth.